South Korea’s former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Seoul Central District Court for his involvement in an insurrection linked to former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law bid. The court’s decision exceeded the 20-year prison term requested by special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team. Park was immediately taken into custody over concerns of potential evidence tampering.
Park was indicted by Cho’s team for orchestrating an insurrection and misusing his authority by convening a meeting of senior ministry officials after Yoon declared martial law on December 3, 2024. The court upheld both charges against Park, agreeing with the special counsel team’s assertion that he had called the meeting to discuss sending prosecutors to support martial law, assess prison capacities for potential detainees, and instruct officials on imposing travel bans.
According to the court, Park neglected his duty to uphold the Constitution by participating in the insurrection instead of preventing it. Park now joins other members of Yoon’s Cabinet, such as former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who have been found guilty of involvement in the insurrection. Yoon himself received a life sentence in February for leading the insurrection through a brief imposition of martial law, with an ongoing appeal against the verdict.
The court dismissed additional charges against Park related to violating anti-graft laws, stating they were beyond the special counsel’s investigative scope. Park had also faced accusations of issuing improper directives to subordinates following a request from Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, to verify certain aspects of a corruption probe by the prosecution.
